Monday, March 21, 2016

Vincent knows he's not the most
charming of the Moretti brothers. He prefers brooding to flirting, reading to
talking, and he sure as hell isn't about to give into his mother's insistence
that he 'settle down with a nice girl.' Luckily, Vincent's gig as one of the
NYPD's top homicide detectives keeps him busy. As does his long-time partner,
Jill Henley–a tough-as-nails cop with the face of an angel and smart mouth that
makes Vincent crazy in all the worst ways.

After six years of working the
homicide beat with the tight-lipped Vincent Moretti, Jill figure she knows him
better than anyone. Which is not at all. But when their most recent case points
to a potential serial-killer situation, the higher-ups send them on a rare
undercover mission to a place no NYPD officer dares go: the Upper Eastside.

Now the bureau's most antagonistic
set of partners is posing as Mr. and Mrs. Brooks of Park Avenue. Spending 24/7
in the suspect's territory brings them closer and closer to their killer . . .
and closer to each other. Soon Vincent and Jill are playing good cop/bad cop in
and out of bed, and Jill's falling hard. But can she convince Vincent to give
her a shot as partner in life, as well as at the bureau?

Only
a week after, he’d stuck out his hand and introduced himself as Tom, Tom
Porter, in a sort of James Bondian way that made her giggle. They had been
eating dinner at that very same hotel restaurant.

Only
a week after that, dinner with Tom had become the norm rather than the
exception.

The
week after that?

They
occasionally threw lunch into the mix, either her coming to meet him at some
fancy place while her mom was in physical therapy, or him bringing fabulous
picnicstyle lunches to her mother’s house, where he’d proceed to charm Jill’s
mom almost as thoroughly as he charmed Jill.

Five
weeks into Jill’s stay in Florida, Jill had stuck around for breakfast.

In
his hotel room.

And
then there’d been last night.

“Okay,
okay, so he’s a dreamboat,” Elena said as the car crept slowly through rush
hour traffic toward Manhattan. “How’d he pop the question? Champagne? Roses?
Fancy restaurant with a water view?”

“Holy
crap,” Jill said with a laugh. “Were you there?”

“I
know all,” Elena said, extending her hands to the side as though she were some
wise sage. “Did you see it coming at all?”

“Not
even a little bit,” Jill admitted.

Not
even with the expensive champagne, or the two dozen roses, or the fact that the
restaurant staff seemed to be going out of their way to give Jill and Tom
privacy at the terrace table overlooking the ocean.

She’d
simply thought it had just been a really fantastic good-bye.

Instead
it had been a bit more of a be mine
forever and ever.

And
Jill had said yes.

She’d
said yes almost the second he’d gone down on his knee, not because she’d been
that sure—she’d been pretty sure . ..
sort of sure—she’d said yes because
in that moment, Jill had wanted what Tom Porter was offering her.

A
companion. A partner. Love.

And
that’s what it came down to. Jill wanted to be loved. She wanted to love.

She
loved her mother, obviously. And loved the memory of her father, God rest his
soul.

And
though she had no siblings of her own, the Morettis had filled that gap. And
with the recent addition of Luc’s girlfriend, Ava, and Anthony’s new wife,
Maggie, she had some amazing girlfriends to add to the mix.

And
last, but never least, there was Vincent. Her partner. In some ways her best
friend, although in a way that was different from her relationship with Elena.

But
as much as Vincent sometimes seemed like two parts of the same whole, he’d
always held a bit of himself back from her. From everyone.

He’d
made no secret of the fact that he had no intentions of getting married, ever.
Any fantasies Jill had had that her partner would one day wake up and see her
were long gone.

Which
left her a bit.. . lonely.

She
wanted someone to come home to at the end of the long day who would just be
there. Who’d pour her a glass of wine, maybe rub her feet and just listen.

Tom
offered Jill what nobody else had offered her... ever.

Love.
Commitment. A future.

And
she knew that he loved her. Fast as their relationship had developed, she could
feel it. And she loved him too. At least she was pretty sure.

“Aww,
you like him,” Elena said teasingly, reaching out a finger and poking the
dimple in Jill’s left cheek.

“I
want to be happy, El. I want the happily-ever-after with someone who wants it
with me.”

She
met her friend’s eyes and saw from the flash of regret on Elena’s face that El
understood what Jill wasn’t saying out loud.

Lauren Layne is the USA Today Bestselling author of more than a dozen contemporary romance novels.

Prior to becoming an author, Lauren worked in e-commerce and web-marketing. A year after moving from Seattle to NYC to pursue a writing career, she had a fabulous agent and multiple New York publishing deals.

Lauren currently lives in Manhattan with her husband and plus-sized Pomeranian. When not writing, you'll likely find her running (rarely), reading (sometimes), or at happy hour (often).